GUWAHATI: The exodus of Indian, Nepalese and Bhutanese students from strife-torn Bangladesh is continuing. Altogether 710 students entered Meghalaya through Dawki, an India-Bangladesh border town in the West Jaintia Hills district since the exodus began on July 18.
According to official sources, the students included 400 from India. Altogether 202 Indian students entered Meghalaya on July 18 and another 198 came on July 19. Five of the students are from Jammu and Kashmir.
The number of Nepali students to arrive in Meghalaya was 302. Altogether 101 came on July 18, followed by 148 on July 19 and 53 on July 20. The number of Bhutanese students who arrived was eight. Seven came on July 18 and one on July 19.
Thomas Gamaliyen, who is a executive officer at the Dawki Land Port, told this newspaper the Meghalaya government provided a bus to drop the students at the Inter-State Bus Terminus at Mawpat on the outskirts of Shillong but not many were availing this service which is available once a day.
“They (students) are coming to Dawki in groups by hiring Bangladeshi taxis and buses. Immediately thereafter, they hire cars to go to Shillong or Guwahati. We help them in hiring the vehicles,” Gamaliyen said.
“Nobody asked for accommodation. They just wanted to leave,” he added.
A quota system is at the centre of the ongoing violence in Bangladesh. Students protesting against it want the Sheikh Hasina government to do away with the system that reserves up to 30% of government jobs for the family members of veterans who fought in the country’s liberation war of 1971. The protestors are insisting that jobs should be purely based on merit.
The protests, which started last month, escalated on Monday. The students of the Dhaka University clashed with the police and the supporters of Hasina’s Awami League. Over 100 people were injured.